Resveratrol on 60 Minutes

When 60 Minutes, a CBS news affairs program aired a feature on Resveratrol, the world suddenly began turning its head towards this relatively newly-discovered natural compound. During his interview with Morley Safer, a correspondent of 60 Minutes, Dr. Christoph Westphal, current CEO and one of the founders of Sirtuin, Inc., said, “If the promise holds true, I think this has the chance to change healthcare.” Sirtuin, Inc. is a company focused on producing small molecule drugs that focus on the sirtuins, the family of genes that regulate the aging process and are activated by Resveratrol.

Resveratrol is a naturally-occurring compound found in certain kinds of plants, such as red grapes, raspberries, pomegranates, peanuts, and some types of pine. It is most abundantly found in the sturdy and stubborn Japanese knotweed. Resveratrol is produced because the plants need to defend themselves against the harsh elements of their environment, such as ultraviolet rays, extreme temperatures, bacteria, and viruses. Research has it that Resveratrol’s protective effect on plants can be easily transferable to humans, according to the 60 Minutes feature, through the pill.

In fact, Dr. Westphal and his colleagues at Sirtuin, most notable of all is Dr. David Sinclair, who headed the team of Harvard Medical School experts who pioneered the constantly growing research on this compound, are working to develop a pill that contains as much Resveratrol as needed for the maximum health benefits to be felt by people who take it in.

In scientific studies done on laboratory mice, it was shown that those who were treated with 1000-1500 mg (milligrams) of Resveratrol lived healthier and longer lives than mice that were not treated with the compound. What is surprising is that the Resveratrol-treated mice were fatter, but they showed lower risks of acquiring aging-related illnesses such as cancers and heart and neurodegenerative diseases. In experiments done on human patients with diabetes, Resveratrol is said to have significantly lowered the glucose and increased the insulin levels of the patients, without them having to change their diets at all.

Resveratrol is also believed to be responsible for the plentiful health benefits that can be gained from regularly drinking red wine. This is best manifested in the French Paradox, where the French, even with their high-fat diets and sedentary lifestyles, have the lowest rates of death due to heart illnesses connected to obesity, cancers, and other diseases related to aging, such as Alzheimer’s disease. They also live relatively longer than the people of every other race in the world.

In 60 Minutes, Morley Safer describes how Dr. Westphal and Dr. Sinclair were actually astonished when they found out that red wine contained Resveratrol. This, in part, sparked the series of research, results of which were leaked out to the media and fired Resveratrol into its superfood status today. However, both experts believe that for humans to be able to obtain the maximum benefits of Resveratrol, we have to take in an amount so high we need to drink at least a thousand bottles of red wine a day. No kidding! The alcohol will only offset whatever health benefits Resveratrol has to offer, if drinking a thousand bottles of red wine each day is even allowed.

This is why, as reported in 60 Minutes, Sirtuin, Inc. is struggling to develop a pill that can contain a very concentrated amount of Resveratrol similar to the amount found in a thousand bottles.The project is still on its way, and Dr. Sinclair admits that it may take a while before people can start taking advantage of Resveratrol’s health benefits. He said, “We certainly passed a corner in terms of the science, and someone’s going to achieve it. {...} If it’s not us, it’s gonna be someone else.”

Based on research, the top recommended resveratrol supplement is Resveratrol Select